I woke up and Dick was gone so I took my shower quickly and went down for breakfast. Bruce was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.
"We have a situation. You won't be attending school today. Come with me." He led the way down the hall and to the library, where we entered the Batcave. Dick sat in jeans and a t-shirt at the computer, slowly flipping through what looked to be case files.
"Last night, there was a slaughter in Sterling City. A new guy, Kanus, kidnapped three politicians. At around 1 in the morning, he killed all of them on live television."
"Why didn't we go down there?" I demanded.
"We didn't know it was happening." Bruce could barely conceal the note of disapproval in his voice.
"Turns out Green Arrow's sidekick seems to be quite handy with a computer. He blocked the transmissions from reaching us. We didn't know about it until the news hit this morning." Dick threw a newspaper on the table next to me. Three fat politicians stared up at me from under the headline GOVERNMENT ATTACKED.
"Were any civilians targeted?" I asked
"Quite the opposite. Watch this." Bruce flipped a video onto the computer display.
A young man in a wolf mask filled the screen. "Citizens of Sterling City, it is time we hold our so called 'electives', who are supposed to be guarding against us being taken advantage of, to their promise. I have been evaluating these particular politicians for the past few months and what I have seen is far from their campaign promises. Justice Dominguez has taken multiple bribes and is the sole reason many thugs, murderers, and rapists have continued to walk among you. I am here to correct that."
The man turned to the justice. "What do you have to say? Guilty or not guilty?"
"I didn't mean anything I just-"
"Guilty!" The man in the wolf mask pulled out a gun and blew the judge's brains out.
Bruce paused the tape on the masked man's face. "The people of Sterling City are supporting him actually, saying it was about time they got someone who worked for the people. I haven't been able to locate the source of the broadcast. We meet with Green Arrow, Speedy, and Black Canary in 30 minutes in Sterling City."
"I'll get dressed for the occasion." I dashed back into my room and changed into jeans and a sweatshirt, slipping my utility belt and mask in my pocket. The car was waiting at the entrance when I walked down and I took a seat next to Dick in the back. Bruce got a call and sat engaged in a conversation with some board member or another.
"Are you okay?" I leaned over and whispered to Dick
"Fine." His voice was kinda short but he sighed "I'm just worried. If the people of Sterling City start thinking this guy is a good idea, maybe the people of Gotham will too. I can't pretend like I don't support this guy, he made those judges answer for their crimes, but he is going about it the wrong way."
"Hey, we're the good guys. They'll see there is a reason we don't kill."
He nodded and then gazed out the car window, lost in thought. My phone buzzed and I checked my texts. A few were from my friends at school asking where I was, and another from Roy telling me to be prepared for an awkward conversation. Apparently Green Arrow and Bruce had already exchanged words and it hadn't gone well. I thanked him and passed on the information to Dick. We already somewhat knew, the tensing of Bruce's jaw was never a good thing, but now we were expecting real fireworks. As we entered the city our driver dropped us off in front a fancy restaurant but we continued walking down the street, looking for a secluded spot. Finally finding one we changed into our costume before heading to the steel plant Green Arrow's team worked out of.
They were all clustered around Felicity's monitors and talking in low voices. As we walked in they turned and I sensed the tension.
Bruce started. "Let's get down to business. Why was I not notified of this the moment it happened?"
"As I said this morning, it is my city. You have Gotham. I don't stick my nose in your business."
"Maybe if we had known we could have helped and those judges wouldn't have been killed. The entire area is up in arms now, on his side. This affects more than just Sterling."
"If I had wanted your help then I would have asked for it. We had it under control."
"Obviously not, seeing as three men are now dead at the hands of some criminal."
"Well, we're here now, so let's just focus on the present. We couldn't track the signal-"
"Because you were too busy keeping us from finding out." Dick spat
Green Arrow glared at him "-because they kept it bouncing around multiple servers. We know it was coming from inside the city but that is still too much ground to cover. No one saw the judges kidnapped, and their cell phones were destroyed and are completely untraceable."
"We need to study criminal patterns over the past few months. If he is a new guy and has a following, there will be an area of town where the old gangs don't go anymore. A little farther back and we should see some turf wars that might be able to give us some borders." I added
Bruce nodded, pleased. "If he doesn't have a following he might be a little harder to find. We need to see who would have access to the judges and look into their disappearances, maybe which will give us a clue as to who took them. It would be difficult for one man to control three others so he had someone else with him. We should also ask around and see if anyone knows anything."
Sarah shook her head "No good, the people are on his side. Whether their criminals or straight, they won't give anything. They think he is some kind of hero. As do others." She shot Oliver a pointed look
"Anyone who kills like that doesn't need to be running around on the streets. Yeah maybe these judges were crooked, but who is to say he won't turn on the people at any time? And regardless of that, he shouldn't be killing anyone."
She huffed but said no more. Bruce sided with Oliver. "If we don't act, it will look like we condone his actions. Murder, for whatever reason, is wrong. This needs to be handled quickly and efficiently."
Oliver nodded. "We will look into it, Speedy you are going to go back to school for the day."
"Aw, come on. Don't I just get one day off?"
"No."
Bruce beckoned him to follow us, but addressed him in hushed tones once we had left the building about a block behind.
Bruce spoke quickly and effectively. "I won't make you go to school but you'll have to work. I'll forge documents that say you attended for the rest of the day. You three are going undercover here in Sterling. Make it seem like you want to join Kanus' following."
We nodded, somewhat excited. Bruce handed us ear comm units which immediately camouflaged to our skin tones, becoming practically invisible unless you stuck your finger down our ears. He dropped us off at the docks and headed for the Batcave.
"Speedy, you go with Batgirl. Try to find out where his cronies hang out, I'll do some more stealth-based operations and try to find out about the kidnappings."
I shook my head "I want to go alone, I'll find more out that way. Speedy should be the only one asking around. Too many people will raise some red flags. I'll see if I can find any areas of town the gangs are avoiding. Besides, I don't have my civies."
Dick pursed his lips but agreed. We split up and focused on our own tasks. Bruce checked in every 30 minutes to make sure we were okay and to get any information we had. Apparently Dick was hanging around the courthouse and Roy was rubbing elbows with the druggies by the docks. I headed to the slums and sat on top of a building, watching the different colors walk below me. The Bloods walked their normal territory, and the Jackals stayed in their turf on the South side. West Sterling City had been in turf wars for a few weeks but it looked like it had died down. A new color, green, walked the streets now and hit up the local kids for drugs. They avoided the glue factory and the area around the high school, and I conveyed that to Bruce.
"Sterling City Police have stationed a lot of officers at the high school due to increased drug use there." A woman's voice spoke in my ear. "The new local gang, the Vipers, usually stay away from the area during the day. The glue factory doesn't pull anything up. Normal functions, purchases, and outputs for the past two months. No new employees, no new cleaning companies, nothing."
"Felicity, keep digging on the glue factory. Batgirl, see if you can get in and learn anything. I'll check in soon." Bruce ordered.
An open window stood on the third floor and I slipped in. Guards circled below me on the lower levels. I snuck out on a ceiling beam and looked down at what was on the ground floor. The huge glue vats were spinning, churning some mysterious amber liquid, and a few more were mixing a green one. Men walked around stirring, taking samples, or tapping on computers. Three men walked in and everyone else stood at attention. I flipped on my com unit and enabled my long-distance speaker so Batman and Felicity could pick up the conversation.
"And here is our secondary operation. We're mixing the miracle serum of ours and we should have a few hundred vials by the end of the week. This mixture here is my own little invention. Truth serum in a sense, takes out any blocks your mind might put on information, comes quite in handy when you need to find a particularly secret bit of information." Kanus was leading no one other than the Joker and another younger man that had a similar suit. His wolf mask was on but his voice carried well around the cement walls. "Combined, we should be able to make quite the impression in both Sterling City and Gotham, and then onward!"
"The sky is the limit, my friend." The Joker smiled his devilish grin.
The beam I was kneeling on squeaked slightly, too quiet for the men to hear, but it was giving out from underneath me. I quickly shimmied toward the catwalk, trying not to jolt, but it was bowing more and more at the far end.
"I was thinking maybe we do a little experiment. I have a…friend in the Central City police that has been particularly tricky to get to cooperate."
Ten feet from the end and it was giving out faster. I hurried my pace but couldn't risk much more for fear of knocking it loose.
"After I was done getting my information, you would be more than welcome to have him and-"
The beam gave out, sending me plummeting to the ground. I reached for my grappling hook but being only three stories up, I didn't have enough time. I hit the ground and rolled, slamming into one of the huge vats.
"It's one of the Bats!" the Joker shouted, looking in the rafters. "Take her!"
Four men and the Joker's young apprentice charged me, and I fought back despite being dazed from my fall and almost sure I had a few broken ribs. My leg felt like it was on fire as I kicked a man in the head and sent him flying into his colleagues. I threw another into a steel beam and knocked him out before the young Joker charged me. He was very, very good.
"You like him Batty? I had him made especially for you. The Prince, I call him. A fitting name for the successor of the King of Crime, don't you think? I know you're here somewhere. Step out and she won't be hurt."
The Prince threw a complicated combination, one he knew would put strain on my injured leg, and knocked me to the ground. I tried to sweep his legs out from under him but he jumped, landing on my chest with his knees. I gasped as the wind was knocked out of me and he gripped my throat with his hands
"Come on Bats, you're hanging around somewhere. Come out!" the Joker leered
I threw a smoke bomb and tried to kick the Price in the face, but instead of his grip loosening it grew stronger. He held on with hands like steel and I felt the world slip into blackness.